Aldi’s and Zucchini: Our Favorite Gluten-Free Finds!

When my 9 year old daughter was diagnosed with gluten sensitivity a year ago, we had no clue how much her diet was going to change. It was obvious breads, cereals + pastas had to go or be replaced with a gluten-free alternative. So many other bagged, canned + boxed items, condiments and even some shredded cheeses had gluten as well.

We live in a small country area and have very few options locally to buy gluten free alternatives. We have a Wal-Mart here and 20 minutes away is an Aldi’s. We have found that Aldi’s has a much wider selection so we make the drive once a week for at least gluten-free items, diary + produce.

We are fans of their Live G-Free line of pastas, bread, crackers, baking mixes and breakfast/snack bars. They even have a frozen selection of pizzas, pizza pockets, ham + cheese pockets and chicken nuggets. They have other brands of gluten-free foods that are of equal quality too. I just remember Live G-Free off hand. We also pick up our produce here as they always have better quality in the area and a larger selection.

As a parent, quick options are always great to have on hand. Since we are hitting the one year mark of my daughter going gluten-free, we have began experimenting with our own recipes lately. Our favorite gluten-free find so far has been ZOODLES! We purchased a Veggetti and began making our own zucchini noodles. The veggetti is easy enough that my daughter uses it herself with supervision. It’s quick to make noodles and easy to clean.

We tried our first batch in a skillet with olive oil, garlic powder + pepper. Heated on medium high until desired. You can heat until just warm or until it’s practically mush. We like a slight crisp but tender enough it feels like a spaghetti noodle. We also made cloud bread but working on perfecting the recipe.

We had some frozen gluten free pre-cooked chicken strips. And we needed a quick option for her that night. We made up the zoodles then tossed them in some chicken broth with the chicken strips. Soup. 🙂

Then….spaghetti! Start with zoodles. Heat in skillet with real butter (or an oil would work too) until desired. Season with garlic powder, onion powder + Italian seasoning. We topped with a basic red sauce (check that it’s gluten-free!), italian sausage, onions, bell peppers and black olives. TIP: Cut/dice veggies and freeze in small portions to save time in the future for spaghetti or pizza toppings.

So far so good on using zucchini! It’s my new favorite vegetable (I’m not even the one on the GF diet!) and it is able to be used so many ways quickly.

Let us hear what your favorite gluten-free find has been so far on your journey?